Back In Time - The Era of the Dragon
by Lady Azuha
Summary: Piko has just lost the one person he has ever cared for. On impulse, three weeks after his tragic loss, he takes the step that is to lead him to the peace he seeks after nights of nightmares and haunting memories. But he awakens again to a different world, and meets Rin, who reveals the reason of his arrival. What could this world have in store for him? (Rated T for lang./violence)


**Prologue**

There he was, standing at the edge of an awfully high cliff that normally would have given him trouble to just even approach it's edge. But not this time. In fact, it seemed rather invinting, right then and there. The raging sea crashing down on the rocks below. It all seemed so... surreal. A small smile tugged at the corners of Piko's pale lips; for once in his rather short existence, there was something that made sense.

It had never made any sense before. His family wasn't there for him; in fact, his siblings could pick on the poor boy all they wanted, his parents never did anything to stop them. He was the so called 'accident of the family', the youngest of three brothers. The one his parents weren't planning, and who came and ruined their previous plans... if there were any, that is. His friends weren't really friends, either; they used him. Like a hankerchief you can merely throw away after use. Then there were the bullies. They were constantly picking on him. School was a mess, his grades were much worse because of the stress he had to endure in his life. He'd be yelled at by his parents when he'd fail a test. It was almost like living through hell. He was broken; no emotions were left in him, for all he knew. Those people in his life had drained away all he had, and there was nothing left of him at this point. He lived through life like he was a zombie; with the same old routine he had come to accomplish every single day in his miserable existence. But then, he met _her_.

She was a sweet, teal-haired girl. Her name was Miku. They had grown to know each other in school; she was a transfer student from a prestigeous school. She was shy and, unlike most of the girls - who never so much as acknowledged his presence - she had walked straight to the back of the class and sat in the desk right beside his, uttering a quiet 'hi' before opening her books for the class. He had been surprised that she had even spoken to him, let alone _noticed _him, but he was secretly grateful for it. Ever since that day, they have been together at all times at school. They always were in the same classes, so they partnered up with each other when the teachers would allow it. In time, they had developped feelings for each other, and eventually, they had confessed their love. It had almost been too good to be true in Piko's case; he had never been loved the way Miku loved him, and he was truly happy that she was the one to have taken his heart. She was so sweet and kind and caring... and in return, he was treating her like a princess. She deserved it. They were together for three years until... _it _happened.

Piko cringed at the memory, tears filling his eyes. He only remembered bright lights, the sound of shattering glass, the rumble of a vehicle rolling full speed on what he thought was a highway, and the long, dull beep of a machine. And when he had woken up in the hospital within the next few days... the news had been devastating. In truth, those memories were fresh in his mind; the accident occured merely three weeks prior to this moment where the nineteen year-old stood on the edge of the seaside cliff.

Once again, he looked down to the rocks that protruded from the raging waters' surface. They looked pretty sharp, enough to empale someone who would have the guts to throw themselves down and into the sea. If they were lucky, they would be killed on contact. But it didn't seem so simple. It was always complicated in some way. Always. And that was at least one thing that Piko Utatane was sure of. He had been through enough to know this. Those torturing visions, the lights, the sounds, they haunted him every day, every night, in every single one of his damned dreams. He couldn't call them dreams anymore, they were nightmares; and every night, he would see his beloved Miku die all over again. It would have been enough to drive a normal person insane! But no, not Piko. He was made stronger than others by the way his first few years had happened for him; although now, that last nightmare, the most vivid he had ever had of the crash, had made him lose it completely. He didn't want to see it again. He didn't want to see Miku's death anymore. He just didn't want to suffer here, while she was somewhere else.

One step was all it would take for his wish to come true.

Not a thought was given. Already, he was ready for this. His family didn't want anything to do with him, his friends had left him, he had nothing left here. Nothing. And that one step he had just taken would fix everything. As the wind blew past him, and the rocks zoomed in at a rather fast speed, the only thing he could think of was that he was finally at peace. With everything. And finally, he would see Miku again. He was sure of it.

... ... ...

Blinding lights flashed before his eyes as a deadly pain suddenly shot throughout his entire body. A strained groan left Piko's lips as he tried to open his eyes, only to close them again after the sun shone in them. He coughed a bit, hardly able to breathe, and rolled over onto his stomach, using his arms to lift himself up onto his hands and knees. He felt like his head was about to explode. Just then, he opened his eyes and, thankfully, the sun didn't blind him this time.

He looked around, surprised. He found himself in the middle of a large crater. The soil around him was completely solid, as if it had been burnt and then it solidified, and it seemed to stretch on a diameter of at least twenty meters. He had no idea how he had gotten there, and there was no meteor or other object in this gigantic hole; just him. How odd...

The boy stood up, slightly dizzy. He had no idea where he was or how he eve got here, and the last thing he could remember was that he was falling down to his certain death. So... why did he still feel like he was alive? He couldn't figure it out. But, just as he was about to start trying to climb up and out of the crater, he heard something... rather strange.

"Heeey! Hey you, down there! Hi!"

Piko looked up to the edge of the enormous hole and saw someone. He was too far to see what this person looked like, but he could tell by the voice that it was definitely a girl. He walked up to the earthy walls of the crater, and started climbing up when the girl threw a rope down to him. Grateful for her help, once he stepped out of the hole, he thanked the girl.

"Oh, it's no problem!" she answered with a grin.

She was rather short, with, again, short blonde hair held back with a white ribbon tied in a bow on top of her head. She had blue eyes, and her face made her look like she was just a kid, although her cheery attitude and her stance let him know otherwise. She wore a long dress similar to those commoner women of those old knight movies would wear, and the skin on her gentle hands seemed a bit rough from working, he assumed, in the fields. He thought she looked quite odd.

Then, Piko turned to look around. Everywhere he would look, he would either see trees, fields, the crater, or, somewhere on the horizon, much farther away from where he was right now, a small looking town, built right at the foot of a great mountain. He raised an eyebrow at this before turning back to the young girl who had pulled him out of his predicament.

"Um... where am I?" he asked.

The girl looked at him almost thoughtfully, as if she was unsure about their current location herself. She grinned after a few seconds and said;

"Well, you're in the kingdom of Vocalia, of course!"

Piko frowned at her. He was... in a kingdom? That made no sense. He remembered he lived in a country named the United States. There were cars, and trucks, and building nearly everywhere. There were no forests or mountains or fields anywhere he knew of, at least. He was obviously confused.

"But... how...?"

At this, the girl shrugged. She rolled the rope in a loop and tossed it onto her left shoulder, holding onto it tightly as she began walking in the direction of the town he had seen earlier, inviting Piko to follow.

"Don't ask me. All I know is that you fell from the sky."

He... fell from the sky...? Now that must have been the most ridiculous thing that he had ever heard in his life. There was no way he could have fallen from the sky. He would have died! Unless he really was dead and this was heaven... Nah, couldn't be. Everything was only getting more and more confused in his mind at the moment, his thoughts were all jumbled and a mere mess. As he began to follow the girl, the latter spoke up.

"I'm Rin, by the way."

He nodded as she looked his way with a smile.

"Piko."

Rin stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him. She eyed him from head to toe, front and back, left and right. It almost seemed like she was looking for something on him. As if she would find it there.

"So you're Piko... I would've thought you'd be... different," the girl finally said, resuming her walk.

"What? Were you expecting me or something?"

Now this was new.

"Well, yes! The great prophetess Luka predicted that you would come."

That was another new thing. In al of his life, Piko had never once believed in premonition. But right now, he was ready to believe it for at least a little while. Even if it was just for the lenght of what he suspected was the first different dream he had in the last month.

"Did this 'prophetess' of yours tell you why I am here, Rin?"

She looked at him with a look that nearly translated into 'are you kidding me' as if the reason of his presence was obvious.

"You're here to slay the dragon, of course!"

**... ... ... ... ...**

**Hey guys, new story!**

**SOOOOOO I had an inspiration attack today and I had to write this. Plus I'm a big Piko/Miku shipper and this story will eventually be Piko/Miku centered so this is just fantastic 3 I hope this prologue is good enough for you guys. But DO NOT WORRY, the first chapter should come soon.**

**Anyways. So, yes. We have a very emotional Piko here. And a meeting. And a wee bit of a horrible truth. What else could go wrong for Piko, other than his failed attempt to give himself what he wanted the most; peace?**

**I hope to get your thoughts about this really soon guys!**

**LOVE Y'ALL TO BITS, AS USUAL 3**

**~Azuha**


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